I went up there on Friday 26th, right after the cold front had moved in over night. The whole place looked like an ice storm had just passed through. Everything was frozen even up to the hut. I went half way up the bowl, sheer ice, so i turned back as it was getting a little dicey without any anchor.
It's probably softened up by now, but it sure was interesting on Friday.[/list]

Notes;
- The Mt Baldy road was clear with no chain control
- Started at Manker Flats around 8:30am with temps around 40F
- The weather was much warmer than the TV reports suggested
- As the ryme ice melted out in the trees above the trail, serious sized ice balls came whizzing down several of the gullies. This resulted in some pretty spicy “dodge ball” action. Also, the trees along the trail would drop icy “window makers” every so often. In all my years on Baldy, I’ve never seen such dangerous conditions. Some folks were actually hiking with helmets on - The trees in front of the Ski Hut would drop big ice chunks and hit the snow with a resounding thud. My noggin felt pretty venerable in just a simple wool cap.
- I put on the light weight Stubai Alu crampons at the Ski Hut and started up the right side of the bowl and soon realized that my recent TheraFlu diet was not paying any dividends. The huff-n-puff and wheezing was the theme for me on the bowl today, ugh!
- I wish I had brought the G10 crampons with Antibot plates, cuz I was lugging shoebox sized snow balls with every step, ugh!
- Finally made to the summit around 12 noon and was rewarded with great views in all directions - Headed back down the east side of the bowl and had to head further east to avoid a large group ascending. Once off to the side, I got some pretty nice glissade action all the way back down to the hut.
- Somewhere near the last glissade, I must have ripped the bottom of my Patagucci Guide pants opened, ugh! That was probably the most expensive (~ $100) glissade I’ve every done, double dang!
- I met Steve Larson at the Hut and we had a nice chat as we hiked down the normal trail.
- Most of the ryme ice had melted out of the trees during the day, so this extra spicy danger is pretty much gone for now
- Got back to the car around 2pm and the noise from all the cars and folks playing in the snow was amazing.
- So many cars packed the Mt Baldy road that the CHP closed the road at Shin Road until enough cars descended to allow room for more cars to head up. Total chaos!
- Still, another great day on Baldy

Finally got over to Baldy today (1/3/09). Trail was bare to nearly halfway up the ski hut trail. After about halfway, the trail was pretty consistent snow, with occasional ice, but I did not use crampons on the way up to the hut. (Did use them on the way down).

Started way too late (around 12:15pm) because I was a lazy lame-O this morning an didn't get out of bed until 10. Anyway, Manker Flats was pretty insane with people all over the place. Temperature at noon was pretty warm at 47 degrees. By the time I got to the ski hut at 1:45 it had dropped to 29 degrees.

Clouds really came in around that time and socked in the view up to the summit. I decided to head up to the base of the bowl, and figured I might try to gain the ridge as long as the wind didn't pick up. As soon as I got over by the trees near the base of the bowl, two climbers were descending asking where the hut was. At this point, it was already 2:45 and I decided to just head down with them. Then, on the way back to the hut, we met up with 2 other climbers looking for the hut. They had descended the bowl, but weren't sure where they were.

In all, a good day. Climber descending the bowl said there were some icy patches along the way. Very well stomped path up the hut. After that, the trail isn't as apparent, but is followable. Snow was all well consolidated, at least up to the base of the bowl.

McGusto, Kevin and I ran into you coming down to the hut.
The entire day was in and out of visibility, I had to sit on the summit and wait for a clear spot to take a photo of the clouds covering the city, it looks so good that way. Some poor guy in t-shoes was on a steep section having a real hard time getting down and being helped by a considerate hiker while temps were really dropping. At Manker, SAR was asking about a past due Korean hiker. Just another crazy day on a local mountain.

ridgeline wrote:McGusto, Kevin and I ran into you coming down to the hut.The entire day was in and out of visibility, I had to sit on the summit and wait for a clear spot to take a photo of the clouds covering the city, it looks so good that way. Some poor guy in t-shoes was on a steep section having a real hard time getting down and being helped by a considerate hiker while temps were really dropping. At Manker, SAR was asking about a past due Korean hiker. Just another crazy day on a local mountain.

Yeah... there were some interesting groups up there yesterday. I saw one guy in hightops with an ice axe....

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone from SP was going to be up there. Next time be sure and say "Hi," and I'll be sure to do the same!

Pics from yesteday:

12:15pm Start of my hike looking up towards the ski hut:

Around 2:45pm at the base of the bowl:

Around 3:15 back at the hut on the way down (although this picture is facing in the direction of path that leads up to the bowl):

I brought a video camera up on Saturday. We got sucked in by the hospitality given us at the hut. Rather than summitting, we played cards and drank tea. But I got some nice timelapse footage of clouds on the way up.

tkoooooooooo wrote:I brought a video camera up on Saturday. We got sucked in by the hospitality given us at the hut. Rather than summitting, we played cards and drank tea. But I got some nice timelapse footage of clouds on the way up.

tkoooooooooo wrote:I brought a video camera up on Saturday. We got sucked in by the hospitality given us at the hut. Rather than summitting, we played cards and drank tea. But I got some nice timelapse footage of clouds on the way up.